Our Dancing Queen
by TalkingMoods
Summary: Various snapshots of Donna and Sam's married life.
1. Chapter 1

**Our Dancing Queen**

 _{This is just an antidote to the (slightly) depressing turn Donna and Sam's relationship took in the sequel, so I'm writing to cheer myself up more than anything and to get back into it after writing my first fic for this pairing about ten years ago! I stole the title from the second film because I'm hoping to write quite a bit from Sam's PoV and I just LOVED that line so much, it sums Donna up perfectly. I'm hoping to turn this into a multichapter but I'll wait and see if there are any reviews/requests of things that anyone would like to read! Please let me know if so, reviews mean a lot!}_

 **1.**

'I love being on my own.' That's what she had told him less than twelve hours ago.

However, more had changed in that short space of time than in the last decade for either of them. Since Sam had arrived back on the island yesterday morning, Donna had done everything she could to avoid him in the hope that he would leave. After what could only be described as a whirlwind few hours, she gripped onto his hand as though her life depended on it in case for some reason he decided to do just that.

Sam knew it would all take a little getting used to, him relocating his entire life to Kalokairi and her no longer having to deal with her 'own disasters' entirely on her own. One thing that had been made abundantly clear in Sam's mind as soon as he and Donna clapped eyes on each other for the first time in over twenty years was the difference between them. He had changed, aesthetically at least, from long brown hair and a matching moustache to a slick hairstyle and clean shaven face; from complete uncertainty in life to a secure and thriving business in the centre of Manhattan. Donna, on the other hand, hadn't changed a bit. Perhaps if she had, he wouldn't have been so quick to suggest getting married but the sight of her wavy blonde hair, dusty overalls and more earrings than he could count just as she was all those years ago made him feel as though the years between their last encounter ceased to exist altogether.

As they walked along the beach, Sam noticed just how reluctant Donna was to let go of his hand, even for a few seconds as he rolled up the sleeve of his shirt.

'Are you okay?' he muttered whilst pressing a kiss into her hair, tucking a strand of it behind her ear while he awaited a response. Compared to how frantic she was the morning before when she had discovered him staying in her hotel, Donna was now remarkably calmer, to the point of almost being silent.

'Mmm, I'm fine. Just - my whole life's changed today, y'know. I don't really feel sure of anything now I guess.' Her grip on his hand tightened even further with this quiet admission, not that Sam minded. He would never mind, he swore to himself.

'Well…' he responded slowly, coming to a stop in the middle of the beach and turning to face Donna, 'you can be sure that I'm not going anywhere, can't you? And that...we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, right?'

'Yeah. I erm - I'm really sorry for what I said to you earlier today, Sam. Yesterday too, I was just awful. I didn't mean it I was just so sho-'

'Don't worry about it.' he laughed, moving his head to look into her eyes in order to reassure her.

'It must have been a shock, huh?' he continued, looking down to where her hand grasped hers and smiling as she slowly let go and nodded in response.

'Uh huh. I know I'm a lot to deal with and I can be stubborn and I - I've just been alone for so long and that's fine but I mean I -' Donna sighed, frustrated that she couldn't find the words to explain her fear that the only man she had ever loved could maybe one day leave her again. She'd been trying to tell him since they walked back from the chapel together, half an hour after everyone else made their way back to the hotel. Not one to shy away from telling people how she felt, Donna suddenly found herself speechless; this time, however, it was due to her being overwhelmingly happy, something she had not experienced for what felt like a lifetime.

'Hey, come here.' Sam said, instantly pulling her into his arms and leaning down to whisper into her ear. 'It's not like last time. You're my wife now, right? I'm not leaving, ever. I promise.' Donna's shoulders tensed immediately upon hearing Sam say the word 'wife', something which had led to her heart being broken for the first time all those years ago. He was right, though. It wasn't like last time. _She_ was his wife now, and Sam was _her_ husband. With this thought now rooted firmly in her head, Donna started to relax and looked up at Sam with a huge grin as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

A few more hours had passed, as Donna lay in bed, curled up in front of her new husband and slowly started to drift off to sleep. Sam's words throughout the day had convinced her that he was here to stay and a fresh start awaited them in the morning, yet Donna was unwilling to let go of him completely, intertwining his fingers with hers across her stomach as they got comfortable. It almost made her feel bad, the fact that she didn't feel upset about her baby girl leaving her for the first time ever to travel the world with her fiance. Sam had made her feel far too happy to dwell on that; they were both spending much needed time with men who adored them and that was good enough to stop Donna worrying for the time being.

She'd told her friends that she didn't miss 'that part' of her life whatsoever and at the time she'd meant it. Donna giggled quietly to herself, peering over her shoulder to look at Sam, _her_ Sam after all the lonely years that had passed in between them meeting and finally becoming husband and wife. What she'd told Sam in the courtyard before the wedding was true, she did love being on her own. Donna had always been proud of the fact that she was an independent - albeit struggling - business owner and before that, she had travelled across Europe on her own. This was an aspect of her personality she was not willing to give up entirely, but the last nine hours of her life had put everything into perspective, making her the calmest and happiest she'd been in many years. Donna loved her independence but, she thought to herself as she closed her eyes, not as much as she loved him.

Donna gave Sam's hand one last squeeze before falling asleep, fully secure in the knowledge that, during the night and for the rest of their lives together, he wouldn't let go.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry this has taken slightly longer than I anticipated! This chapter is loosely based on the tiny snapshot of the MM1 trailer where Donna and Sam are dancing and a photo of them laughing in a similar scene that I really wish we could've seen!

I hope you enjoy reading, please let me know what you think in a review and any ideas/prompts you have would be great too, I'd love some inspiration!

 **2.**

'I don't want to. Everyone's watching us.'

Sam had grabbed her hand in a bid to lead her away from the table at which they had sat for the majority of their wedding reception to share their first dance, but Donna had become shy all of a sudden.

'People have been watching us all night sweetheart.' he chuckled in response, 'Besides, what do you care? You were dancing in Spandex last night for the world to see...very well I might add' he muttered as he leaned into Donna's ear, gently kissing her temple.

'That was different, I'd had a _lot_ more to drink for one.' Donna whispered back to him, being careful not to draw attention to herself from the guests in case they caught wind of what Sam was trying to convince her to do and decided to encourage her too. 'And _you_ shouldn't have been there in the first place' she giggled quietly, remembering how furious she was with him almost exactly twenty four hours before. She was simply putting her guard up; the man she had never stopped loving, the man who broke her heart had reappeared the day before a huge milestone in Donna's life on her little island with her baby girl. Doing her best to avoid him since the morning before perhaps hadn't been the best idea Donna had ever come up with, as if she had given him the time to explain himself, how he had come back to find her and never truly loved anybody else since he left for good, she might have spared them both another day of heartache. Thinking back to how unreasonable she had been the day before, Donna began to feel a pang of guilt about how unwelcome .

'Where did you sleep last night?'

Bursting out laughing at such a random question, Sam frowned jokingly, 'Why?'

'I threw you out and I feel bad...you did find somewhere to sleep, didn't you?'

Pausing for thought for a moment or two, he decided to see how far he could push it. 'No, I just stayed out here once everyone had gone to bed...didn't want to impose, you know?'

Donna's heart sank. 'No! You should've just...I don't know, demanded that I gave you a room. There's a spare somewhere…'

'"Demanded", huh? Something tells me no-one had ever successfully demanded anything from you Don.' Sam smirked. 'Not unless the only thing they were demanding was an argument and a broken nose.'

Donna's frown slowly curled into a smile, looking up to her new husband sheepishly.

'I stayed on Bill's boat, don't worry. It was a little cramped, but it was fine.' he laughed.

'Thank God. Don't stress me out like that, I felt awful.' she chuckled as he pulled her onto his lap, taking hold of her hand once more.

' _Anyway_...stop changing the subject, woman. Come and dance with me.'

'Sam…' Donna pleaded quietly, looking at the floor. It wasn't as though there was a single person at their reception who didn't know Donna. _It should really be him who doesn't want to,_ she thought to herself as she stared down at the grey heels that she had kicked off hours earlier. Even earlier that day, Donna had been all too happy for her voice to be heard as she reprimanded Sky and his friends for not helping her, then later at what was supposed to be her daughter's wedding, as Sam asked her to explain why he wasn't the only man who could be Sophie's father. The entire island knew her as the boss, someone who they could rely on but wouldn't be afraid to tell them exactly what she thought. For some reason, this had changed almost instantly when she and Sam had become husband and wife.

Eyes still avoiding Sam's, Donna tried to work out why this was. She had felt entirely vulnerable since leaving the chapel that afternoon, yet she had never been happier or more content in her whole life. He had spent some time chatting to Rosie and Tanya along with the other guests but Sam's attention and gaze had been almost entirely Donna for the evening; this was something she was having difficulty getting used to, whilst secretly hoping she never would. To take their second chance for granted would be a foolish mistake and they had both made far too many of those in the time they had spent apart. Donna grinned to herself as she lifted her head slowly, her eyes meeting her husband's once more.

'Okay, we can dance.' she announced, downing the remaining contents of her champagne flute and standing up to allow Sam to do the same. Tanya had noticed where they were heading and immediately started to cheer, causing Donna to turn the same shade of pink as her scarf when others started to do the same. Sam chuckled and pulled her close to his chest, hooking his finger under her chin and tilting her head up to look directly at him.

'Ignore them.' he mumbled, kissing the tip of her nose as he held one of her hands with his and placed his other on the small of her back. 'Just me and you, yeah?'

'Yeah.' she replied in nothing more than a whisper. 'Just us.'

The newlyweds, who were by far the least intoxicated people in the courtyard, began to sway gently to the music being played by some of the locals, to the delight of each and every guest who had come to love Donna over the years and were overjoyed to see her happy instead of prioritising everyone else as she had always done before.

Donna turned to look up to her bedroom window, hardly able to believe that she wouldn't be sleeping alone tonight for the first time in many, _many_ years. Sam's presence over the last two days had caused her to experience every emotion she thought possible. From sadness to anger, anxiety to elation. Right now it was sheer happiness; dancing with him for the first time in twenty one years had made her feel incredibly shy and yet braver than she thought it possible to feel.

Slowly closing her eyes, she rested her head against Sam's chest as he led them in their first, of hopefully many, dances. Donna had smiled so much in the last five hours that her cheeks were starting to ache, but that didn't stop a grin making its way across her face as she got lost in her thoughts once more.

 _Just us._


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Here's another little update for you all! Thank you so much for reading, please leave reviews/comments/prompts and ideas for me, I love to read them all!

 _Two months today._

That's what Donna thought to herself as she tiptoed across the moonlit courtyard in a bid to find her husband. Two months since the most exhilarating day of her life so far, one that had started with so much tension between her and Sam, despite his best efforts to put her at ease around him.

 _No-one could calm her down that morning, especially him; Sam's attempt to tell Donna that he, too, was single and more than willing to help her run the hotel while her daughter left the island for the first time in her life to explore. Donna, however, had shut him down almost immediately, assuming that him announcing his familiarity with children leaving home was nothing more than a boast about his happy family life - how wrong she was._ _Donna had been apprehensive at first; she was so used to being fiercely independent that she was worried about how she would adjust to sharing every part of her life with someone so suddenly. She needn't have been so concerned. Everything had been running smoothly between her and her husband, falling deeper in love each as they started to get to know one another again, as they had done so intensely all those years ago._

 _Until tonight._

Donna had thought Sam had been acting somewhat suspicious when they'd sat down for lunch earlier that day, but when she asked what was wrong he'd promised her he was perfectly fine. It was only when Donna was taking the days final load of laundry down from the line and putting it indoors that she had overheard her husband talking to her daughter - _their_ daughter, she now reminded herself - and arranging to send her $2000 without so much as mentioning it to her beforehand. As Sam was still unaware that she knew, Donna decided to suppress her rage until they got a chance to speak properly over dinner, which hadn't gone too well for either of them. Sam had eventually told Donna what he'd done in order to help Sophie pursue her dream of travelling for longer and during the course of their meal, his wife had become more and more upset.

 _He's rubbing it in,_ she thought. _He knows I couldn't give her that much money, I've tried so hard to give her everything but money's always been so tight. That's why she must've gone to Sam before me, she knows I couldn't help. But he didn't even discuss it with me, not the money nor the fact it would mean going even longer without seeing Soph, not a word._

Sam had tried in vain to calm her down but this had only made their situation worse. Donna had stormed off and told him to leave her alone for the rest of the evening. Eventually making it up the stairs with tears blurring her vision, Donna slammed the bedroom door loud enough for her husband to hear and flopped down onto the bed before letting them cascade down her face.

Over the few hours that followed, Donna began to let her mind wander back to Sam, desperately trying to understand why he would've done something as significant as that without talking to her first. _Maybe he's not used to sharing everything either...maybe he was just being a good dad._

Donna smiled weakly to herself; Sophie had gone so long without having a father and now she had three, one of whom Donna loved with all of her heart, despite their current situation. In one way, she was overjoyed that Sam felt comfortable enough in his relationship with Sophie to help her out financially and that Sophie was happy enough to turn to him, however the fear that she may somehow get edged out by her daughter's fathers was more upsetting to Donna than she'd ever dare let on.

Turning her head in the now almost pitch black room, Donna noted how late it was and how Sam hadn't come up to bed. _He must be in one of the guestrooms,_ she mumbled to herself, pulling on her sandals and walking downstairs once more to find her husband and, hopefully, work this out once and for all.

Walking into the building opposite, Donna approached the one guestroom she knew was unoccupied and knocked tentatively. No answer. Donna could feel her heart pounding in her eardrums as she slowly turned the doorknob and allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness within. As she scanned the room, she found Sam quietly sleeping and her heart began to physically ache. Torn as to whether to leave him in peace or to try and make up with him so that she would be able to sleep later that night, Donna remained frozen in the doorway as she smiled sweetly at the sight before her. Her husband was slightly too tall for the bedframe, his feet dangling over the end as he snored gently. With a deep breath, Donna decided it best to bring their first argument as a married couple to an end as soon as possible, before a night apart potentially made it even worse.

'Sam?' she whispered, as he began to stir slightly.

'Sam? Wake up…' Donna slowly took a step closer to the bed as Sam opened his eyes and sighed gently. The couple stared at one another for a few seconds before he closed his eyes once more.

'What's up?' he asked, silently bracing himself for another argument with his wife.

'Can we talk? About tonight?'

'I thought we already had, Donna. You made yourself quite clear, didn't you?' Sam replied, shuffling further down into the bed and resting his head on the pillow, making it obvious that he wasn't in the mood to talk until the morning. He was fully aware that he should've talked things through with her, however he hadn't expected her to react as angrily as she did. Sam had always made sure to provide for his sons and now he had the opportunity to do the same for his daughter, he felt as though he was making up for lost time with Sophie. He hadn't anticipated how sensitive a subject money was to Donna and therefore hadn't even considered asking her opinion on helping their child out financially as soon as she had asked him if he would do so.

Donna sighed shakily, vowing not to get too upset. 'I'm sorry, I'm just not used to-'

'-I know.' Sam interjected. 'But I was only trying to help her out.' He lifted his head so his gaze met his wife and cleared his throat. 'I'm sorry too.'

Donna nodded solemnly. 'Okay. I'm just going to…' she trailed off, gesturing towards the door as she started to turn before Sam reached out suddenly and grabbed her hand.

'No you're not. Stay here with me.' he said simply, shuffling over to the wall and pulling the sheet back to let his wife lay next to him.

'Sam,' Donna giggled softly, 'it's a single bed, there's nowhere near enough room.'

'Well, we'll just have to cuddle up, won't we?' he whispered, pulling her into his arms and kissing her head gently.

Donna smiled as she felt her whole body start to relax, in contrast to the entire evening when she had been unable to calm herself down without her husband by her side.

'It's been two months since we got married, y'know.' she whispered into his ear as he played with a strand of her hair.

'Already? Wow.' he chuckled, 'Well, here's to many more, hmm?'

As Donna slowly closed her eyes in the darkened guestroom for the final time that night, she found herself unable to suppress the grin that appeared on her face, not that anyone could see it.

'Yeah. To many, _many_ more.'


End file.
